Rosaceae Gallery

Blush Provence rose

Watercolour on vellum by James Bolton inscribed James Bolton pinxit, Stannary near Halifax'. Bolton was born in West Yorkshire, England and was the son of a weaver. He was a self- taught botanist, artist and engraver. His brother Thomas Bolton (1722-1778) was also a naturalist. James Bolton was highly successful as a mycologist and author of several botanical books including the first British book on fungi. James and Thomas Bolton were both sponsored by the art and natural history collector Margaret Cavendish Bentinck, Duchess of Portland (1715-1785). Painting date c.1790s

Rosa Dream Girl

Watercolour of Rosa Dream Girl by Graham Stuart Thomas. Thomas was a partner at Sunningdale Nurseries in the mid 1940's and Gardens Advisor to the National Trust from 1955. In the 1960's he was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal and the Victoria Medal of Honour. Appointed OBE in 1975, G.S.Thomas is recognised as a horticulturalist, rosarian, writer and artist

Knights scarlet fleshed Strawberry

Watercolour on paper by Augusta Innes Withers of Knight's scarlet fleshed Strawberry. This is taken from one of ten volumes known as Hooker's Fruits commissioned by the RHS to help standardise the nomenclature of cultivated fruit. After William Hooker suffered a stroke Withers was one of several artists appointed to complete the paintings. Withers was flower painter to Queen Adelaide and Queen Victoria as well as illustrating works by John Lindley and James Bateman. This painting is dated 1825